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Lowell Scout's Eagle project could be a lifesaver

By Sarah Favot, sfavot@lowellsun.com

Updated:
11/26/2012 06:35:59 AM EST

LOWELL -- If you were watching a baseball game on a summer day at Callery Park in the Highlands neighborhood and someone got hit in the head with a foul ball and needed an ambulance, would you be able to tell the emergency dispatcher the address of the park is 200 B St.?

Thanks to an Eagle Scout project of 14-year-old Justin St. Louis, 53 parks in the city now have signs that display the name and address of each park on a sign that reads, "In Case of Emergency Dial 911."

City officials say the new signs will "significantly decrease emergency-response times, possibly saving lives," according to a citation presented to St. Louis at a recent City Council meeting.

St. Louis first got the idea for the signs from his former baseball coach, Pawtucketville Youth Organization President Ray Boutin, who saw the importance of having addresses listed at each park in case of emergency.

At first, the idea seemed daunting to St. Louis.

But in February, he achieved the rank of Life Scout -- the second-highest rank attainable, behind Eagle -- so he decided he would take up the challenge.

St. Louis met with city officials to organize a plan.

He said City Manager Bernie Lynch thought the project would be beneficial to the city to improve public safety.

Originally, St. Louis had only planned to put the signs up in parks in Pawtucketville, where he lives, but city officials saw the need for the signs across the city.

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St. Louis said that during the planning, while working with the city Parks and Recreation and Engineering departments, it was discovered that some parks' addresses were listed incorrectly, which the Engineering Department corrected.

He then worked with the city's sign contractor, Doherty Sign Company, to design the signs.

The signs cost $25 each, so St. Louis organized a pasta-dinner fundraiser at St. Rita's Parish on Mammoth Road, where his Boy Scout Troop 7 meets. He raised the $1,800 needed.

"One of our biggest challenges, I guess you could say, was just waiting, because I'm quite an impatient person," St. Louis said. "I started in March, and I didn't finish until September."

When the installation day finally came, St. Louis recruited a group of 35 volunteers who helped him put up the signs.

"That's the point of the Eagle Scout project -- to lead a group to accomplish a project," he said.

In his remarks to the City Council, St. Louis especially thanked his grandmother, who made cookies for the volunteers, and his grandfather for driving him around the day the signs went up.

The project totaled 309 hours of community service.

St. Louis, whose uncle and father are also Eagle Scouts, is the youngest in his troop to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Boy Scouts have until their 18th birthday to earn the rank.

St. Louis, a freshman at Lowell High School, said he was inspired to get his project done as quickly as possible because many people told him teens start to lose interest in Scouting once they get into high school.

He said he was inspired to stay in Scouting to continue in his role in Order of the Arrow, Scouting's National Honor Society, in which he can be a member until he is 21.

He is also in the Air Force Jr. ROTC at Lowell High, was on the crew team in the fall and is part of the Student Council.

When St. Louis visits a park and sees the signs, he knows he is the reason the signs are hanging there.

"I think it's pretty cool because I know all the planning and preparation paid off, because it could possibly save someone's life, so it's pretty cool," he said.

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